* Fred Capossela, one of the most well-known racetrack announcers for five decades, died Wednesday night at his home in Upland, Calif. He was 88.

Capossela, who worked the New York thoroughbred tracks for 37 years, suffered a stroke Saturday and another stroke Wednesday.

Jurisprudence

Jurors in Tampa, Fla., listened to taped telephone conversations that prosecutors say link Minnesota Vikings kicker Donald Igwebuike to an attempt to smuggle heroin into the United States from Nigeria.

Although there's no specific mention of drugs on the tapes, recorded last October after two men arrested in Florida implicated Igwebuike, a key government witness testified he and the football player were discussing a narcotics shipment.

Igwebuike, 32, faces up to 120 years in prison and $6 million in fines if convicted.

Track and field

Sprinter Butch Reynolds' request for a court order to allow him to run in races while he challenges a two-year suspension for alleged steroid use was turned down by a federal appeals court.

A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati rejected Reynolds' request for a stay.

Pro football

The National Football League Players Association is contributing $500,000 to a fund to assist retired players who face catastrophic illnesses or other personal crises.

Frank Woschitz, spokesman for the dormant union, said its board of directors board voted to donate $100,000 a year for five years to the Players Assistance Trust Fund. Woschitz said the fund, organized a year ago, has raised $75,000 already and has set a goal of half a million dollars in the next year.